Blogs

Recently Mada launched a project for the web community to provide professional digital accessible widgets and best practices to help improve the accessibility and usability of websites.
The project consists of 2 areas:
User Interface Web Component (UI): it’s a code repository which has a collection of accessible website plugins with documentation to be used by developers to improve the accessibility of websites for persons with disability and usability for the community. These plugins are developed using HTML, JQUERY, and CSS with online live examples. http://madaportal.org/e-accessibility/ui-component
User Experience Design (UX): is a style ...

Most of the situations that we face in our work life are regulated by one or another regulation. Nevertheless, the line betwin what is "regulated" from what it is "not regulated" is a wide strip on which technicians place themselves depending on their interpretation criteria.
The question asked as "What can be done that goes beyond the compliance with regulations?" is missing the adjective "strict" so we can reformulate the question to " What can be done with ACCESSIBILITY that goes beyond the STRICT COMPLIANCE with regulations? ".
The article you are going to read justifies that any measure aimed at that a building has elements that ...

Travelling independently, especially on public transport and through indoor spaces can be a difficult and sometimes impossible experience for blind/vision impaired people. In the UK, there is evidence that nearly 50% of blind people are not able to leave their homes as often as they would like to and 79% face serious difficulties when trying to use public transit. Traditional wayfinding aids, such as signage, are often inadequate for people with limited vision.
The rise of technologies such as the internet of things (IoT) and augmented reality has the potential to transform independent travel for the world’s 253 million blind people. In particular, these ...

I have an impairment. Stairs make my impairment a disability. The inability to get to my classroom is a handicap. The school enrollment is reduced by one because I could not get to class. I have an impairment. Missing labels make my impairment a disability. The inability to complete the purchase form is a handicap. The company has one less customer because I could not complete the purchase. I have an impairment. Poorly edited captions make my impairment a disability. The confusion caused by video captions without punctuation is a handicap. The venue did not sell a pair of tickets because I did not think the event was one I would enjoy. I have an impairment. ...

Today, being GAAD (Global Accessibility Awareness Day), I would like to share an article of mine that was published yesterday. The article is actually a slight modification of the full text at the request of the editor as the publication's focus is on Universal Design for Learning. Here is the link to the published article: Universal Design for Learning (pdf) from the Design for All Institute of India The following is the full text of the article:
Living Afraid:Impacts of Anxiety and UDL with WCAG Solutions
By Valorie Sundby, CPACC, PCWA
Introduction
The day dawns bright with a clear sky and a warm temperature. Getting out of bed is easy. The ...

We're constantly striving to create accessibility techniques that are so easy to do that everyone who creates documents can make them a habit. Today's tip is about decorative images in Microsoft Office: whether Word or PowerPoint. If you're familiar with creating accessible documents and webpages, then you already know the importance of using ALT attributes for images in HTML, including making the attribute blank (<alt="">) for those images that are decorative , redundant, or irrelevant. Similarly in PDF files, we mark such images as an "artifact". However, one of the big challenges in creating accessible PDF files from Microsoft Office is ...

Hello everyone, I used to member of IAAP while I was working for Deque. Great to have joined back as an individual member. Currently I work for Informatica and act as an Advisor to Prakat Solutions Inc., In addition I'm founder of ServeOM Inclusion - which I use as a platform to spread the word about accessibility. Accessibility is not only a space that gets me my pay cheque but also give me joy of work satisfaction. I believe, Accessibility is one way that helps us to create impact to users. Looking forward to working with you all.It's great that we now have a IAAP Chapter in India. I look forward to helping its development. Best wishes, Srinivasu http://serveominclusion.com ...

Notice the acronym after my name. CPACC stands for Certified Professional in Accessibility Core Competencies. I recently discovered that I had earned this title after I took the certification exam in January. I’m excited and honored to be among the few so far to be recognized as an expert in the accessibility industry. Currently, around 200 industry professionals have earned their CPACC. The International Association of Accessibility Professionals (IAAP) offers the certification to qualified individuals who have worked in the accessibility industry for several years. CPACC candidates also must be proficient in English.
By being certified in accessibility, ...

From time to time people interested in web development ask me to explain HTML and how it works. I generally begin, as probably most of you do in that situation, with the markup for the most basic, simple page possible. One with nothing in it, so they can see the basic structure of the html, head and body elements. Then I add one or two lines of text content and carry on from there. Thousands of articles and tutorials on the internet do a similar thing, generally starting with a "Hello World" page. A few days ago I was asked the question once again, but this time I stopped to think for a moment about my approach. It occurred to me that this apparently innocuous ...

Learning to Use an Augmentative Communication Device
By Rosemary Musachio, Chief Accessibility Officer, Ruh Global Communications
Although I’ve been communicating with a manual communication board with letters and words since I was eight, speech therapists have been trying to help me use electronic augmentative assistive communication (AAC) devices. I had never been thrilled with the idea until recently.
Back in 1980’s, AAC devices had robotic sounding voices that some people couldn’t even understand. The voice made me sound like a teenager from outer space. Now synthesized voices are much more human sounding. Some voices ...

On Friday, January 27 2017, Apple was honored with the Louis Braille Award its efforts in building accessibility functions into their products; very cool! An article with the details is available at the appleinsider website . It's nice to see a company awarded for doing good things

ICT Refresh Finally Becoming Reality
By Rosemary Musachio, Ruh Global Communications, Chief Accessibility Officer
Government departments, federal agencies, and federal contractors still abide by Section 508 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act, even though the provisions don’t reflect modern technological advancements or are comparable with international ...

By Rosemary Musachio, Chief Accessibility Officer
October is Disability Awareness Month. Since I’m a person with disability, the significance of this commemoration holds much hope and promise, not just for me but for the other 56.7 million Americans with disabilities. However, Disability Awareness Month does not seem widely known to the general population. Consequently, its impact may prove to be weak throughout the rest of the year.
By contrast, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which also occurs in October, usually produces lasting effect. It’s not only because having breast cancer is more serious than having a disability. The strong impact ...

MouseKeys versus Keyboard
By Rosemary Musachio, Chief Accessibility Officer, Ruh Global Communications
As an E&IT Accessibility Analyst, one of the facets of my job is to check if interfaces on webpages and software applications can be reached by pressing the TAB keys several times, otherwise known as tabbing. I also check if a link or button can be activated by pressing the Enter key or spacebar. While receiving keyboard focus through tabbing, along with pressing ...

Greetings All -
I have just read what each of us had to say about
himself, and nobody mentioned printers. I used to
have a Canon ink jet which was slow and was
given a Brother multi function which is fast when it
works but is impossible for me to restart when it
goes on strike. Then I need sighted help. Error
mwssages appear on an LCD about two inches
long, illegible to my eues. The Canon put them on
my computer screen.
I suggest that each of you add your own experience.
Cheers. Georg

I had bookmarked Knowability as something I ought to look at, and finally I did. The first thing that caught my eye was a piece complimenting Apple's iPad for its accessibility. Having caught the iPad off base with regard to a wimpy keyboard, unsuitable for those needing high contrast, I wondered about the writer's eyes. How did he miss this? If sighted, he should have spotted the tiny letters and thin outlines. If using a screen reader, of course he would miss it. In that case, shouldn't he have a disclaimer saying what he did not check for? Meeting all the guidelines may not be enough. Perhaps the industry needs a check list of what is done ...

Don’t Pull Your Hair Searching for Code Examples – ARIA and Form Fields
By Rosemary Musachio, Chief Accessibility Officer, Ruh Global Communications
If you are like me, searching for good code examples when you try to find solutions to accessibility issues can make you pull out your hair. You Google it and you get tons of results. When you finally find something, you go to the site to realize it’s only a forum unanswered question. Your excitement peaks again when you find a blog post ...

Testing a webpage for accessibility on a PC is quite different than testing it on a mobile device. Instead of testing for keyboard navigation, which cannot be done on a mobile phone, links and buttons must be checked if they’re large enough and spaced so users with dexterity impairments can tap them easily. Testers must see if alternatives are provided for gestures, such as pinching the screen, for dexterity capability also. Additionally, content should be tested if it ...

The Accessibility of Travel Sites
By Rosemary Musachio, Ruh Global Communications, Chief Accessibility Officer
ILUNION T.A., in conjunction with Ruh Global Communications, is assisting the travel & leisure industry with helping collect valuable insight to providing its customers with the best service and quality experience when traveling either locally or abroad. You can take the 10-minute survey at http://accessibilityintravel.consultaopinion.com/Encuesta.aspx?idEncuesta=145 .
The survey has questions about the accessibility of travel ...